The Little Mermaid
by Cotton Picker
Summary: In this fanfic, the Arlong Arc's point of view is taken from Sawtooth's own niece, who tolerates all of the human's acts but has a bone to pick with Nami the navigator. Part one in the YellowTang Series.
1. Summer's Impact

A young girl's pale indigo feet were dangling in the water. Her straight navy hair was in two pigtails, and her eyes were the color of Arlong Park's personal pool. Yes, she was the one and only Saw-Tooth Arlong's little niece. This was the summer that she was to spend her vacation over at Uncle Arlong's "resort" in Coco Village. _Who's that? _She thought, turning around to see the red-headed girl at her uncle's throne. "Who's she?" She wanted to overhear what Arlong was discussing with a "pew-man" such as Red over there.

"Uncle Arlong? Who's that girl?" The mermaid ran over to where all the commotion was going on. "Why is she here?" She repeated once again. If there was one thing that Arlong loathed, it was those darned pew-mans. Having one near him on friendly terms was totally unusual.

"Hello, Tara. Nami here isn't like those pew-mans, she's one of us!" The strong merman's hand was on Nami's head. She was just about the same age as Tara herself, so maybe they could become friends, no matter what big uncle said.

The red haired girl looked at the navy headed mermaid, who was looking at her bandaged arm. "Um, Mr. Arlong, is Tara in your crew too?" Nami asked Arlong, seeing as she was quite curious. Within all of her time here at Arlong Park; Nami had never seen a female merman (none the less her own age). "I haven't seen any girl merman here."

The merman leader didn't answer little red's question, and he led her to her room. "This is where you'll be drawing maps, Nami! You can be a great navigator someday with your talent." He then left the human girl alone in her chamber-room.

Tara walked in through the door and saw the young mapmaker. "Hi, Nami! I'm Tara, from earlier? Are you from Coco Village?" She said, trying to be nice to the new kid. "I brought you some snacks. Do you think we could be friends?" Tara handed over the bag of sweets to the red headed Nami, but she turned them down.

"I'm not here to make friends with any of you bad Mermen. I'm just going to fulfill my promise to my village—that's all." Nami said with a scorn. However, she didn't eat the late Bellemere's meal for Nojiko and herself so she took the sweets anyways. _Arlong made me a deal. One-hundred million berries to go. Then I'll free the whole village!_ Nami told Tara out, and shut the door. She had a lot of work to do; and the first assignment was to gain the merpeople's trust.

_That was eight years ago. Nami left us when she was thirteen and could "manage on her own". She always wore sleeved shirts to conceal her promise to Uncle Arlong—the wretched tattoo of Saw-Tooth Pirates. I remember every summer at Arlong's Park; helping Uncle collect taxes, making sure that no one skipped their pay. Even though he treated me like I was part of the Business I would still be nice to those so-called "pew-mans". If he only knew about self hygiene he would know that WE are the real pew-mans. Arlong made such a bad name for us merman. He made us look like we're bad guys that hate all of mankind. Not all of us are big ole jerks like Uncle Arlong…I wish to prove that this year at my trip to Arlong Park. _


	2. Show your loyalty!

The lavender skinned mermaid, now eighteen, was taking a swim in the ocean. "Coco Village has such nice waters." Tara said to herself. She was old enough now to make the long trek across the waters to Arlong Park. When Tara emerged from the personal pool at the park she was greeted by the vision of the Merman throne inhabited by a sea-green headed swordsman. "Hey! Who do you think you are, sitting in Uncle Arlong's seat!" The young lady walked over and stared at this proclaimed bounty hunter. "Why are all the mermen on the ground? You mean you…"

Roronoa Zolo looked long and hard at the mermaid. "Do you know if any other humans were here?" He wasn't prepared to fight this girl, unless she strikes first. "I'm a guest of your uncle and I'm looking for someone."

_He's come to take Nami away, I'm sure of it. Now he's going to do away with my uncle's crew! _"Um, I don't know...There was a red-head girl that has a room here, but she's not here right now. Go ask the octopus out back." She directed Zolo to where he was; her face a bit pink. _Even for a human, he's kind of adorable. I hope he'd stay a little longer._

The lazy swordsman thanked Tara. _Why is that fish woman staring at me? Anyways, got to go find the others…_He shook the thought out of his mind and walked over to where Tara had instructed him.

"Oh, hi Mr. Swordsman. Are you a guest of Arlong's?" The eight armed fish man asked Zolo, who nodded. "I'm Hatchan, Arlong's right hand man!" Zolo thought that he could get some help from this stupid merman. "Do you know how I could get to Coco Village?"

"I'll just tow you over. Hop in!" Hatchan said, cheerily. Zolo did as told and sat inside a small boat shaped as a bucket and Hatchan took him to the sandy shore. "Thanks." He said, walking off. He then overheard that Usopp, the scardey-cat marksman, had been attacking Arlong. _Dang it Usopp! What did you do now?_ The swordsman thought to himself as he rushed back over to the Park.

"Uncle Arlong, you're back!" Tara turned around to see a crowd of mermen and a needle nosed human coming along with them. _There she is. That Nami chick is back again. She's here again, just to betray my uncle—I'm sure of it. But she doesn't know what I told him, so now she HAS to stay on Arlong's Crew. She'll never be able to pay her fine; because I told Uncle Arlong all about her little plan!_ "Who's the bushy head? What did he do?" _This one is different. Not nonchalant like the swordsman or brave like Nami. What a coward! His knees are knocking at the sight of me! _

"Nami is going to prove her alliance with us, today, Tara. You know how?" The mermaid shook her head. "She's going to do away with this filthy pew-man that crossed me over!" Arlong laughed sinisterly as the other merman pitched in. The man in overalls' teeth alone could chatter through a log, and Tara tried to applaud along with her fellow "crewmates"—even thought it somewhat disgusted her. "Go ahead Nami. Show him your loyalty to the Arlong Pirates."

Nami looked at the long-nosed human as if she was conducting a plan. Then, Usopp threw some small little orb to the cement and it burst up in smoke! "What just happened?" Tara coughed as the rank smoke stung her eyes. Some of it finally cleared away as she looked at the scene going on. _Hey! She's not stabbing him, she cut herself!_ It was true, Nami the Navigator had spared this coward's life, stabbing Arlong's tattoo on her own arm in exchange. The smoke lasted quite long; so Tara grabbed Nami's bloody arm and quickly bandaged it. She was, after all, the Arlong Pirates' nurse. "Don't worry. My uncle isn't that smart; fool him like you did me. Now go to your stash." The mermaid knew exactly what would happen with Nami's payment.

"Good job, Nami! I knew she was one of us." Arlong said, directed to Kuroobi as Usopp has supposedly fallen dead in the pool of water. "I shouldn't have doubted her." The martial artist said in uncertainty. Even though the pew-man had proven herself loyal to the Arlong Pirates, something was still fishy about her…


	3. Nakama?

_I cannot believe that she did that. She didn't have to stab herself just to please my uncle; he isn't really worth it…Nami! You spared that long-nosed boy because you are against us Arlong Pirates, but wait a little longer; because soon it will all pay off. _Tara was in Nami's room as the red head snoozed away. "I hope you are wise enough next time to not stab yourself with a dirty blade. You could get tetanus." The mermaid sighed and re-wound Nami's filthy bandages.

"W-why are you doing this?" Nami said, sitting up from her rest and touching her pierced arm. "Ouch…Did you fix up my arm? Why?" The navigator seemed to be confused about Tara's kind actions. "I thought all your mermen were alike." She seemed to make a poor generalization.

"That's about as mean as saying that all humans are smelly and weak. Which is totally false, 'because I've been around a lot of humans in my time, and if we mermen knew a thing about soap then we wouldn't have that hygiene problem?" Tara said, trying to stand for her species. It was hard trying to bring out the best of the fish people; considering that the impression they had left on Coco Village wasn't a very friendly one. "But that's not important. Follow me, your funding for the village is in trouble!" The navigator just had to ask how Tara found the money.

_I remember exactly how I found out about Nami's little secret. It was her fourteenth birthday, and she was coming back to deposit the cash. I, on the other hand, was out enjoying the sights—I wasn't a crew girl back then—and I noticed Arlong's little mapmaker sneaking off to a fruit orchard. Being a bit nosy (and being around a very nose-y person like my uncle, hee-hee) I just had to follow her. That's when I saw a big hole being dug, and a huge treasure chest to go with it! That's when she noticed me._

"_Who's there," She asked in a rough tone, "I can and will hurt you." That's when I spoke up. "Purple-Tang Tara; I am sorry for following you. You were acting like a spy and then…um, I won't tell anyone I promise!" I was scared of being hurt, because I'm not that much of a fighter. "Look, don't ever do that again! This is my private stash of money, and if I catch any merman around it…I'll kill him!" Now I knew I could never be her friend, no matter how much I try._ "…And that's everything up to now. I knew, but Uncle Arlong found out the hard way…But c'mon, we have to go now!"

Even though they had hurried to Bellemere's old home; the two women were too late. The only evidence left of theft was a deep hole in the ground where Nami's berries were. "I-I saved for years…" Then, the red head did something Tara would never have suspected Strong Nami to do in her lifetime; she broke down and started to cry. "Nami, I'm so sorry. If you can't go back to the Park, I'll go give my uncle a piece of mind…a-and my fist!" Now Tara was normally a girl that would think now fight later, but for Nami to believe her so quickly and follow her to the dig site…she had to honor her crewmate's decision to trust a merman! "Wait for me…Nakama?" Tara extended her paleviolet arm, and Red shook the webbed hand. "Of course…"

By the time Tara had reached Arlong Park, there was a gaping hole in the cement wall. _First Mister Chuu is defeated by the curly haired coward…now this? What's going on!_ There was a handsome blonde man that was soaked from the pool and that dreamy swordsman; they're obviously tired. Then the mermaid looked around to see Kuroobi and Hatchan. "Tara, you're just in time. Take those two men and fix 'em up." Arlong commanded his niece yet again.

_I should do what is right. For my friend, that now trusts me. I will indeed take the REAL men—just as Uncle Arlong told me too. _"Yes, sir!" Tara said with a bit of attitude and she helped up the badly wounded Zolo, setting him on her back. She may not have looked as bulked up as the other mermen but it didn't mean she was as strong. "You're bleeding through your bonds." Tara said in a small voice. "I can re tie your bandages, alright." The mermaid turned to Sanji, who refused to try and free his caught in stone captain. Arlong was beyond angry; he was seeing red in thirteen shades. "Purple-Tang Tara…I have done everything for you, and you were so good to the Arlong Pirates I was going to let you inherit Arlong Park one day. But here you are, are the aid of these...filthy pew-mans!"

"S-shut up Arlong! If you knew anything, you are the filthy one! You and your crew constantly terrorize these villagers and I can't live with it anymore. I may have been raised with the idea that all humans are bad; but that doesn't mean I can change." Tara spat at her jerk of an uncle. Good for a certain Straw hat boy, however. He had finally caught his life yet again from his watery brawl with death, and was ready for action. When he and Arlong started fighting man versus fish-man; Tara turned to see Nami smiling among the villagers.

* * *

Cotton: I'm considering making Tara's life and adventures into a series of fanfics, and even a life history more drawn out than the little taste you got of her when she was 10 years old. If you like the idea; please private message me 


	4. Smell Like Roses

After removing Zolo's dirty binds she took out a new roll of bandage tape. "Are you really a doctor?" He asked Tara. She ran a webbed hand through her fin-shaped yellow ponytail. "No. I'm just the cleanest merman that can tie a knot, that's all." Tara giggled and put her hand over the swordsman's wound. Small beads of crisp cool water fell from her fingertips rinsed out the crusty blood. "Let's recover now, swordsman." Yellow-Tang sighed, standing up to see the two people fight. _They're now on top of the tower…Where Nami used to work._ Tara sighed, viewing the chamber that the red head had slaved over.

_I was carrying a tray with some rice noodle soup up to Nami. Sometimes I hear her cry at night, but I don't ever talk to her about it. It's all Uncle Arlong's fault for working her so hard! "Nami, I brought you some dinner. I-I made it myself!" That's right, seafood soup. However, Uncle Arlong said it was mutiny to use octopus and shrimp in a dish served for mermen. At the time there were no octopus crewmen here, so I didn't think twice about cooking some up. Boy, that girl could eat! "Wow, Nami, you sure are hungry!" I said in awe of her large stomach. Nami then turned to look at me, her eyes tearing up. "You would be hungry as me too if you were cooped up in here for hours without food or water." Her back was to me once again as she slurped up broth and noodles. _

"Swordsman?" Tara asked Zolo, tying the knot on his bandages. "Who's that straw-hat?" Roronoa replied to Tara's question. "That's Luffy. And I'm not 'swordsman'. My name is Zolo." He said before falling into one of his notorious slumbers. _Zolo, eh? He's that bounty hunter? Doesn't seem like one to me…_ "He's really strong." Yellow-Tang said in wonder of this man's strength. There was a bunch of action going on, furniture falling from the sky and everything. Before she knew it, Tara was knocked out by a topography book and declining down beside Zolo.

_Huh! Who's this? What happened to the battle…? Hey, I'm not at the park! _"What's going on?" Tara said in a groggy tone. Nami waved a hand in front of the mermaid's face. "Hey, you finally woke up." There was a large grin on her face. "Nami, what happened to Uncle Arlong and the park?" Tara sat up and blinked a few times. She was in a small bed in a quaint little cottage. "All gone in the rubble; It's over now." Red stood up and sighed, still smiling. "I'm sorry about your uncle, but still…he shouldn't have underestimated Luffy." _He's gone. The park is gone. All of the daunting memories are gone with them. Its good but...I'm going to miss that place._ "Are you going to leave now with the Straw Hats, Nami? I'm going to miss you." She heaved form the bed, embracing her red head friend. "Nami, I want to ask you one thing. Do I stink?" Then the human laughed loudly and put her right arm on Tara's shoulder. "You smell like roses, Miss Tang, you smell like roses."

* * *

Cotton: well, that's the end of Book One. I have decided to take up the idea of Tara's adventures. So now, at the end of the beginning, I hope you stay tuned for the next story! 


End file.
